Monday, May 18, 2009

Time split in springs and gears and stained its musty raft. She missed her and he missed her and they tore the last of it, and found the fief of vapor in barren requiem fields, and pushed musty wheels of Xerxes delicately stitched to the folds in his cloak and hands. (HK Zamani)

Erasing POST

Difficult times demand difficult art.
How does one restart a project with a history of success?
How can one do the same thing? It has to be different otherwise will be uninteresting.
The first exhibit will set the tone. It has to be a difficult exhibit.
So this show addresses a history of success, and rejects the idea of building on some safe foundation--that’s more like business than art.
The architecture of the space is also geared to be idiosyncratic, materialize and dematerialize with its walls on wheels and hinges.

It is not possible to completely erase these works. There are still the ghosts. It is not possible to erase POST. There is still its ghost. This exhibit of Erased works is a Kamikaze (divine wind) show. Lets do only Kamikaze shows.
(HK Zamani)

The Erased artists:

Roland Reiss is a master of materials, my professor at Claremont, and still a strong supporter. I gave him a solo show when he retired and his paintings were getting more inventive and fresh. They continue to get more interesting. He may be making his best now, slow and tedious to make, but his best.

Linda Besemer is from my generation. When I showed her seminal work she was 40 or almost. Shortly after, she made it into the Whitney biennial. She was making brilliant work, and nobody wanted to show it. Even her current gallery needed convincing. She shows with Angles gallery.

Doug Harvey had two solo shows with me, also curated a show in the entire building. He made very difficult work, and no one would show him. His paintings reminded me of his writing, because of the layers of information. It was important to read them similar to how you read writing.

Brad Spence makes really beautiful and conceptually strong work. I gave him his first solo show at POSTwilshire, and had him simultaneously curate a show at POSTdowntown. He shows with Shoshana Wayne Gallery.

Sherin Guirguis came to intern for me in 1997 after finishing her BFA at UCSB. She is incredibly energetic, and a high achiever. I included her work in group shows prior to her going to UNLV for her MFA, and after. She also did a solo wall installation and co-curated Midas. Sherin continues to do well as an artist as well as a curator.

Ruby Osorio never had a solo show at POST, but was included in some group shows. She is the youngest in the group. Ruby is doing very well and shows with Cherry Martin Gallery.